Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a closed container in which is an absorbing material such as cotton wetted by apple vinegar. The apple vinegar is retained by the absorbing material. The container is punctured when inserted into a machine that uses single serve beverage filter cartridges so as to allow hot water to pass through the container via the punctures. The hot water releases the vinegar from retention over time because of heat transfer that raises the temperature of the vinegar to break down its surface tension enabling its release to mix with the hot water. The mixture is suited to descale and clean flow passages of the machine in a cleaning procedure by removing all the excess grinds and muck that accumulated in the machine.
Description of the Prior Art
Inspiration
The inventors were displeased with the extensive amount of time it takes to descale and clean single serve beverage filter cartridge machines of accumulated excess grinds and muck if conventional cleaning instructions are carried out. In addition, they were displeased with the reliance on cleaning agents to carry out the descaling that are harmful if consumed since such cleaning agents are used to clean the same flow passages of machines used to brew beverages. In their view, users may harbor some fear as to whether drinking beverages from such machines is really safe for consumption immediately after the cleaning procedure is complete in the sense that they may fear there is a real risk that some residual cleaning agents remained within the flow passages that did not flush out so as to become mixed into the beverage in subsequent cycles. In other words, the perception of risk of consuming harmful cleaning agents remains—whether or not that really is the case cannot be resolved with certainty by the user prior to consuming the beverage. The user has nothing more to rely upon other than blind faith that the number of brewing cycles according to instructions from the supplier of the cleaning agents is enough to completely remove any residual cleaning agents.
The inventors are also aware that distilled vinegar is a household cleanser, killing most mold, germs and bacteria that it comes into contact with. Distilled vinegar, on the other hand, is safe to consume (at least in some doses). However, distilled vinegar has a fragrance or odor that is tolerable, but not particularly appealing to the sense of smell.
Machines that Utilize Disposable Single Serve Beverage Filter Cartridges
According to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia:
K-Cup portion packs are used with Keurig or other single cup brewing systems to brew a cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. Each K-Cup is a plastic container with a coffee filter inside. Ground coffee beans are packed in the K-Cup and sealed air-tight with a combination plastic and foil lid. When the K-Cup is placed in a Keurig brewer, the brewer punctures the foil lid and the bottom of the K-Cup and forces hot water under pressure through the K-Cup and into a mug.
In this manner, the hot water leeches the flavor, color, aroma and stimulants of the coffee, tea or hot chocolate to form a desired beverage.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 6,645,537, which is incorporated herein by reference:
A known disposable single serve beverage filter cartridge is disclosed in expired U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,325,765 and 5,840,189 (Sylvan et al.), dated respectively Jul. 5, 1994 and Nov. 24, 1998, the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference.
This beverage filter cartridge is comprised basically of an impermeable yieldably-piercable cup-shaped outer container internally subdivided by a permeable cone-shaped filter into first and second chambers. A granular or powdered dry beverage medium, e.g., roasted ground coffee, is stored in the first chamber, and the container is closed by an impermeable yieldably piercable lid.
During a processing cycle, the lid and container bottom are pierced, respectively, by tubular inlet and outlet probes. The inlet probe admits heated liquid under pressure into the first chamber for infusion with the beverage medium, and the resulting brewed beverage passes through the filter into the second chamber from which it exits via the outlet probe for delivery to an underlying cup.
According to an online article dated Jul. 18, 2012 by Mandour & Associates on their website, the filter design covered in the two expiring patents has not been used since the inception of the K-Cup. According to the online article, pending patent application 2005/0051478, whose contents are incorporated herein by reference, is intended to protect the coffee filtration system utilized in the most recent version of the K-Cup currently in the marketplace.
Descaling the Coffee Maker
According to a webpage at coffeecow.com: http://www.coffeecow.com/PublicPages/ArticleInfo.aspx?ArticleID=18
Over time, mineral deposits accumulate inside your Keurig coffee machine. These mineral deposits make it more difficult for your Keurig to heat the water to the appropriate temperature for optimal brewing. The deposits also affect the taste of your coffee.
Keurig coffee brewers are extremely easy to use, and it's just as easy to descale a Keurig coffee machine. It is generally recommended that you descale once every six months (or every three months if you use hard water). To eliminate the guesswork, many Keurig coffee brewers flash a warning light to let you know descaling is needed.
Umex CleanCup's new cleaning K-cups are made from ingredients that are biodegradable and odorless. Simply brew two cleaning K-cups and all the excess mineral deposits and leftover coffee are washed away. For use in Keurig brewers only.
Umex also offers another descaling solution with their liquid product. The same biodegradable and odorless ingredients are used in this liquid to ensure your machine is left with no chemical residue. All you have to do is pour the liquid into the machine's water reservoir, add more water and then brew three times. For use in most coffee makers.
Dezcal™ is a citric acid-based, non-toxic, and biodegradable descaler that breaks down mineral deposits in your brewer. Regular cleaning of your Keurig coffee maker using this product will help keep it in tip top shape and ensure that your coffee is perfect each and every time. For use in other home coffee makers, pod/capsule and espresso machines.
Removal of Excess Grinds and Muck from Brewing Basket
Coffeecow.com has a further webpage: http://www.coffeecow.com/PublicPages/ProductDetail.aspx?Qstring=1260_0_4013−1_advertises a product “Cleancup Single Cup Brewer Cleaning Cups” that mentions:
Clean Cup Single Cup Brewer Cleaning Cups allow Keurig owners to quickly and easily clean their Keurig brewing basket. All ingredients used are biodegradable, odorless, and phosphate-free. Simply insert the Clean Cup into your Keurig machine, brew two cups from one cleaning cup and enjoy fresh, truly clean coffee. 5 CleanCups in each box.
Regardless of whether you prefer light roast, medium roast, or dark roast coffee, every coffee lover knows that a cup of coffee needs to be cleanly and freshly brewed at all times for it to taste great. Unfortunately for Keurig machine owners, this means having to thoroughly clean their coffee machines, which can take a lot of time to complete.
At least, this was the case before Clean Cup created the single cup brewing chamber cleaning cup. Now, thoroughly cleaning a Keurig machine's K-Cup brew chamber is a snap. All it takes is two brews of the same cleaning K-cup and all the excess grinds and muck that are accumulated in your machine's K-Cup holder will be washed away. The cleaning cup even works in all Keurig single-cup brewing devices, ensuring that every Keurig user can have the cleanest-tasting, freshest cup of Joe whenever he or she wants it. Make sure to brew twice following the cleaning process without any K-Cups in the chamber to rinse the brew chamber.
Umex CleanCup's revolutionary cleaning K-cups are made from ingredients that are biodegradable and odorless as well. This further helps ensure that every cup brewed from your newly cleaned machine contains no residue from the cleaning process. By using a single k-cup once a week to clean your Keurig brew basket, you'll have fresh coffee for a long time to come. Includes 5 cups per box.
Cotton Water Retention Capabilities
A commonly used absorbent fiber is cotton, but there are others that are more absorbent like modal/micromodal, tencel, and other viscose-based fibers. Suitable organic substitutes for cotton include hemp and bamboo.
Cotton balls are soft balls made of cotton. Cotton absorbs water—as much as twenty-seven times its weight. Further, an article entitled “Retention by Cotton Fabric During Centrifuging” by L. Loeb is published in “Textile Research Journal” (1963) that is available online at: http://trj.sagepub.com/content/33/7/521.full.pdf. The article mentions that, as concerns the retention of water by cotton:
water is held in assemblies of moist cellulosic fibers in at least three different ways. In order of increasing firmness of attachment theses are: (1) Capillary water held in the spaces between fibers and in the surface serrations of the fiber wall. (2) Solid solution of water with the non-crystalline element of the fiber, Hydrate water which is chemically bound to molecules of the fiber. Regardless of the exact nature of the bonding, it is the water held by mechanisms (2) and (3) which is responsible for changed in the intrinsic fiber properties which occur on wetting.
Surface tension of liquid being expelled. It is shown that the water retention can be reduced by reducing the surface tension of the wetting liquid. This may be accomplished either by increasing the temperature of the wetting liquid or by addition of surface active additives. In either case the retention decreases linearly as surface tension is reduced.
Thickness of the fabric bed. The thickness of the fabric bed is shown to be an important variable in controlling water retention in any given cycle. Retention decreases as thickness increases.
It is desired to shorten the necessary time to complete a cleaning procedure to machines that utilize single dose beverage filter cartridges over conventional techniques and yet do so with cleaning agents that are not harmful if consumed.